Prevalence of Mild-Cognitive-Impairment and Depression among Elderly Clients in Selected Wards of Baraha Municipality: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Mild-Cognitive-Impairment (MCI) is an intermediate state between normal cognitive ageing and dementia. Identification of MCI is thought to be crucial to early intervention.
 Objectives: To assess Mild-Cognitive-Impairment and Depression among elderly clients and to find out the associations between Mild-Cognitive-Impairment and Depression and socio-demographic variables.
 Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was adopted. A total of 115 elderly clients who fulfilled the selection criteria were enrolled using purposive sampling technique. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Geriatric Depression Scale were used with Interview technique. Those elderly clients were selected from the 2 wards of Baraha Municipality.
 Results: Majority of the subjects (68.7%) were from between 60-70 years. More of the elderly clients were females (54.8%). Maximum (81.7%) were illiterate. About 35.7% had the history of medical and psychiatric illness. From the total sample, 39.1% had issues with memory. In case of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), 93.0% was screened with Mild-Cognitive-Impairment. And, 60.9%of the elderly clients were screened as Depression. With regard to the associations between mild cognitive impairment and selected demographic variables, significant associations were found with gender, education level, marital status and previous history of medical/ psychiatric history. The correlation between MoCA score and geriatric depression score showed a negative relationship.
 Conclusion: Many elderly people in a community have Mild-Cognitive-Impairment and Depression. This study added evidence on prevalence of Mild-Cognitive-Impairment and Depression among geriatric clients in a community-dwelling.

Risk of Dementia in Nepal: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Mountainous, Hilly, and Lowland Regions

“…The prevalence revealed by the Memory First Aid Informant Questionnaire/CSI-D for informants instrument was similar to that found in a recent study in Nepal, which revealed that 75% of older adults have dementia symptoms using the Cognitive Impairment Test (CIT) tool in residential care homes [6]. About 93.0% was screened for mild cognitive impairment with 115 individuals (60 years and older) using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) [7]. However, the prevalence of cognitive impairment revealed in the current investigation is much higher than found in a recent systematic review focused on global prevalence, using results from 80 studies which revealed a range of 5-41% [22]; and in another national study from China, which found a prevalence rate of 22.2% [23].…”

“…It is estimated that over 135,000 people in Nepal may live with dementia, with almost 50% of the population over age of 60 years having some form of memory-related problems [5]. In Nepal, a recent study has determined that nearly 75% of older people living in residential homes in urban areas have dementia symptoms [6] and 93% of older people aged 60 years and above have mild cognitive impairment in one municipality [7]. The situation is compounded in Nepal by a tendency to dismiss symptoms of dementia as part of the normal ageing process, with a general lack of awareness of the symptoms of dementia in the general population [8].…”

Dementia care landscape in Nepal: Understanding the context, barriers, and opportunities for the development of a national dementia care plan

“…The diagnosis of dementia has predominantly been based on studies conducted in hospitals, and very few from communities 55 and OAHs 56 . The results from these studies shows the prevalence rates range from 3.9% to 28% which probably might be because of the different tools and different cutoffs used to ascertain the diagnosis (Table 2).…”